2006-10-23

Monday, October 02, 2006

Ignorance On Fire

From December 2004.

I have had it. No more bullshit from the right wing neo-conservative Christians of this country. No more smirking, pretentious superiority from Republicans. No more hand-wringing, lets-re-evaluate crap from Democrats either. No more excuses. No more banalities about moral values. No more fear-mongering speeches designed to induce anxiety in the heartland. No more propaganda television, seeing dress-up Bush in his disgraceful, fake military uniform, banners of red, white and blue on MSM news stations attempting to sanitize the blood on our hands, Jerry Falwell on CNN saying "Blow them all away in the name of the Lord," the Humvees pavement-parked in suburban America owned by wanna-play-soldier, fat, impotent, soft, rich, white guys. They know who they are. They would be the ones who are angry that someone said that out loud. And I have had it with the stupid, arrogant God Bless America magnets, as though He is nationalistic. I have had it with the sanctimonious lectures about God and Jesusbeing on "our" side.

And I am angry at the mentally lazy citizens of this country who swallow it whole. No more lies now.

Did you ever hear about the two campers whose tent was attacked by a bear? One started putting on his boots. The other said, "You can't out-run a bear!" The other said, "I don't have to out-run the bear, I just have to out run you..."

That joke is a perfect example of the currently fashionable mentality in White America. There are lots and lots of folks in America who think that all they need to do is outsmart the next guy to "get ahead." I am sick of hearing from them. They complain about taxes being too high. They complain about welfare "queens." They complain about public schools - not about being under-funded, but about teachers not being "good enough." They complain about affirmative action. They feel put-upon and think they can't get a break. They think they are poor. They think that somewhere, someone is getting something they themselves deserve more. They watch Fox News. They vote Republican. They buy lottery tickets, a lot. And they always identify themselves as Christian.

But what they never trouble themselves with, is facts. I want to know how they sleep at night, claiming Jesus while succumbing to this "survival of the fittest" attitude. What encourages them to believe that their good fortune is proof of Godliness, that prosperity is evidence of virtue? There is a giddy atmosphere in this country right now, promoted by neo-conservatives and their media, of downright glee when sermonizing about their Mission to bring Democracy (and Christianity) to the Muslim world. And folks like this love it, because feeling righteous actually makes them righteous, right? As though no one were being killed and maimed for it. As if it were a Sunday school story. As if war was a video game.

Some company made one of the assault on Falluja. Yes, a video GAME of what the rest of the world is calling a war crime on a massive scale. They are actually producing and selling this repulsive evil, and Americans are actually buying it. The level of hypocrisy, and the depth of fear and hate in this country is astounding. If this is not the work of evil, then what is? Have we no shame?

War is Hell? Yes, we know. Our soldiers over in Iraq were systematically indoctrinated and lied to, in order to get them there. And now that they are stuck there, stuck in that nightmare reality of battling "insurgents," now there is no way out for them except to kill, and to kill a lot. They are mostly kids, captive themselves, in a country that hates them, with inadequate equipment thank you Donald Rumsfeld, and they are in a battle of life and death, locked in self-preservation. They were set up.

Cluster-bombs are being dropped on cities full of human beings, unarmed captives are being executed by our soldiers, whole families machine-gunned in their cars at checkpoints, prisoners are being systematically abused, and these folks so unconcerned with facts, safe at home on their Barca Loungers, smug in their conservative Christian virtue, are cheering it on. Some are even quoting all the Old Testament crap about God visiting his wrath and war upon cities, and somehow this means those women and children being napalmed in Falluja, oh they probably deserved it. Then they point to al-Qaeda and say "those barbarians."

I want to vomit. That these same people call themselves right, call themselves patriotic, call themselves incredibly, "Real Americans," call themselves Christians at all, is soul-sickening.

I have had it with being asked to give them the benefit of the doubt. There are no excuses for being ignorant and hateful. If anyone Christian is reading this, you have a profound obligation to speak out against this war, and against the people who have lied about it, waged it, profited from it, celebrated it. To do anything less is to dishonor yourself, to damn yourself as an embarrassment to decent humanity everywhere.Let's just be really clear what you are sanctioning with your silence: The dehumanization, humiliation, torture, rape, maiming, bombing, burning, napalming, running over with tanks, and shooting like dogs, the human inhabitants of a country that did nothing to us. Nothing.

The soldiers are carrying out your orders. Our orders. We created it, we supported it, we are allowing it to continue. This obscene blood is on our hands.

Americans who think this war is necessary, or think it's a good idea, deserve everything they are going to get. We have incurred the anger of the entire Muslim world - over a billion people - and painted them all with a "Terrorist" brush. We are murdering their citizens, and this is the truth: What goes around does come around. Everything you do does come back to you. You reap what you sow.

Like Rome, we are witnessing an America in decline. And the willfully-ignorant-and-proud-of-it are busy congratulating themselves. Some even think it's a sign of the Second Coming. I say, good luck selling that to the 1.4 billion Buddhist Chinese. And if Christians can't get a forum in this right-wing media machine, then who else do they think will? You "born-agains" are in power. It is your Christian duty to stop this horror from being perpetrated in the name of your Lord Jesus you proselytize so damned often.Are you so busy finding End Time clues that you can't see your complicity in these crimes? So step up, Pro-lifers. Now is your chance. This is YOUR opportunity to speak up and prove you are not hypocrites. Where is your sanctimonious outcry? Where are your signs and demonstrations? Where are your judges' laws against this genocide?

How much evil are you willing to swallow before you can no longer look at yourselves in the mirror? When do you plan on walking your Jesus talk?

That's what I thought. Dead silence.

And genocide is the correct word for it, for dogs are now eating the corpses in Falluja. Only 9 more killing days until Christmas.

Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices -- Voltaire, 1767

2 Comments:

I have also Voltaire's quote stored in my computer. It is very appropriate.

When I read your post you mentally sent me back to 2000, to my own country. Then, I participated in demonstrations against the goverment and I showed the energy and strength you showed in your post. I remember the smell (??) of tear gas when I was protesting for fair elections. Now I am in a new country and I feel much more cautious about these things. However, I do share most of your points of view. (Remember Galileo? "But it does move"...I see the shadows of fascism extending over America,and it makes me very sad. The paradox is that America fought a war against fascism between 1941 and 1945 and won it.

I read also about the fourteen characteristics of fascism and I am also thinking about writing about it. Not in a day by day basis though, just a brief summary. I believe that if we do not stop our own genes (see my post called "Prisoners"), fascism is the natural destiny of humanity.

Believe me, the medical world is dead. I need to be in touch with more people like you!!